1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the art of molds for forming ice cubes in freezers and freezer compartments of refrigerators, and more particularly concerns novel closed cups or containers for forming ice cubes individually.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventional freezer trays currently in general use for molding ice cubes in domestic refrigerators and freezers, are made of flexible plastic material. The usual tray has a matrix or array of fourteen cavities arranged in seven rows, with two cavities in each row to define two, side-by-side, columns. The tray is open at the top, and this causes a number of difficulties. The surface of the liquid being frozen is exposed to ambient air before and after the tray is placed in the freezer. The liquid, thus, picks up odors and foreign matter which contaminate the ice cubes. When the cubes are frozen, they are usually removed by twisting the tray in an upside down position to release the cubes. The cubes fall out of the open tray into a sink or onto a table or counter or even onto the floor in a disorderly array. If it is desired to pack one, two or more cubes in a lunch box, the cubes must be individually wrapped in metal foil or in a plastic wrap. This is time consuming, tedious, and difficult to do because the loose cubes are slippery, wet, frigid, and hard to handle. Another disadvantage is that the liquid of the melting cubes leaks through the wrappers into the lunch box, which is most undesirable.
It has been proposed, as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,166,560 and 2,367,098, to provide a wire rack into which a multiplicity of separate cups with open tops can be placed in a freezer to freeze the liquid into individual cubes. These proposed expedients have as many disadvantages as the plastic trays with open tops currently in use. The wire racks are pliable and frequently twist out of shape so that the cups cannot be inserted. The racks have preformed frames so that only special cups of predetermined size and shape may be used. The cups either have no covers, or have loose covers, which easily fall off leaving the liquid to be frozen and the frozen cubes open to contamination by foreign matter.